Nursing Homes in the Philadelphia area (Media, Manor: chapel, income, living)

[lititzman2003]

Can anyone recommend a good nursing home in the Philadelphia area, preferably in the Northeast? We've ruled out Immaculate Mary. If you know costs and waiting periods that would be great.

Thanks for your help.

[asburypk]

Originally Posted by lititzman2003

Can anyone recommend a good nursing home in the Philadelphia area, preferably in the Northeast? We've ruled out Immaculate Mary. If you know costs and waiting periods that would be great.

Thanks for your help.

Angela Jane is great-it's very small. Paul's Run is also supposed to be very good. Deer Meadows is OK too. Stay away from Genesis facilities, such as Chapel Manor, etc. They are the pits! Riverview isn't the best either, and is probably Genesis.

No facility is great or even close to perfect. You can find rankings on Medicare.gov.

As for costs, that varies. If the person you are looking to place has low-income and assets, you should apply for the Medicaid Nursing Home Grant and call PCA at 215-765-9040 to apply. Waiting periods vary, and you can find out by calling the facility. Generally the worse places have openings (ie Genesis facilities).

[Boompa]

Philadelphia Protestant at the dead end of Tabor by the Defense Logistics Center, not far from the old SEARS. It was really nice.

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by Boompa

Philadelphia Protestant at the dead end of Tabor by the Defense Logistics Center, not far from the old SEARS. It was really nice.

The Philadelphia Protestant Home

I'm not trying to drum up business for them but my aunt and uncle were in there and it looked really good when I visited

[ebyrnes]

I cannot recommend any particular place, but here are some more unusual things to check out when you are deciding on a place in addition to medicare.gov:

1. Visit at unusual hours and see what is going on

2. Look at the staff: do they look grumpy, overworked, or at least a bit cheerful? Do they work together? Any apparent bickering?

3. Carefully watch the nurse aides: they have the most difficult job in a nursing home, are often not valued for the work that they do but they give most of the hands on care. If they appear to have a bad attitude, steer clear of that facility or at least investigate deeper. These are the people who will be taking care of your loved one, and you want to be sure that they are going to toilet them, and not leave them sitting in a damp brief.

4. Generally speaking, nonprofit homes give better care than for profit; that seems like a "duh" statement, but...

5. Check out the food: is it edible, and are they willing to meet any dietary requests that you have?

Hope that you find a good fit since every place isn't suitable for everyone.

e

[slickvic277]

Stay away from Paul's run. Nice place but the staff seems very over worked. The protestant home is very nice. My wife's Grandmother and Grandfather were both there and they were very well taken care of. The place is clean and state of the art.

[orrmobl]

I would look into Sunrise Assisted Living. The facilities are top notch and they actually update the place and the staff is as caring and helpful as can be. This is based upon my experience with Sunrise in Media but I'm guessing they're all close in quality and I know the buildings are similar.

On a related note, I would not recommend St. Joseph's Manor. My father in law was in there for years and now that my grandmother is at Sunrise, the difference is really stark. St. Joseph's was dated, smelly, dirty and getting worn out, it didn't have a very big area for patients with dementia/Alzheimers to roam - they couldn't even go outside. The staff was ok but not totally accomodating and caring like at Sunrise. St. Joseph's was a dump in comparison. And supposedly my step-MIL was paying big bucks for this privilege. Of course she's a liar and money grubber so she could have placed him there out of greed, selfishness or just plain stupidity - all equally possible.

[asburypk]

Originally Posted by orrmobl

I would look into Sunrise Assisted Living. The facilities are top notch and they actually update the place and the staff is as caring and helpful as can be. This is based upon my experience with Sunrise in Media but I'm guessing they're all close in quality and I know the buildings are similar.

On a related note, I would not recommend St. Joseph's Manor. My father in law was in there for years and now that my grandmother is at Sunrise, the difference is really stark. St. Joseph's was dated, smelly, dirty and getting worn out, it didn't have a very big area for patients with dementia/Alzheimers to roam - they couldn't even go outside. The staff was ok but not totally accomodating and caring like at Sunrise. St. Joseph's was a dump in comparison. And supposedly my step-MIL was paying big bucks for this privilege. Of course she's a liar and money grubber so she could have placed him there out of greed, selfishness or just plain stupidity - all equally possible.

I've heard only bad things about Sunrise Facilities, and I do work in the field. However, I think the one in Media may be an exception.

[lititzman2003]

Thanks for all the responses, everyone. Unfortunately, my MIL passed away at Aria-Torresdale Hospital on the 10th. She was staying at River's Edge, which I thought was a very nice place and a facility that I would recommend.